Part 62: 09/24/09 - 09/25/09: Tziah The Desert (Part Two: Sleeping Table)
So, uh, today is a... very long day. Strap in, we'll be here a while.
Changing Seasons / Sun
...It feels like fall since the typhoon passed, doesn't it? *sigh* I hope the fighting ends before winter comes...
I'm sure it will.
...I hope so...
Believe it or not, crying can relieve stress. The tension is washed away with all those tears. But if the root cause of the stress isn't addressed, it'll become a vicious cycle. By the way, does anyone here know the number one cause of stress?
Men get stressed from dealing with their bosses, coworkers, and so on. When they seek comfort at home... It passes on to their wives. They, in turn, relieve their stress through personal hobbies.
> You stayed up and listened to the lecture...
So, in vanilla this'd be where these scenes end. Here, however...
Ahm, there will be no classes this afternoon. However, that doesn't mean you'll be allowed to goof off. You'll all have to work together to clean up the displays and decorations for the school festival. I'll assign you into three groups for the cleanup. The first group will go to the science lab. Your leader will be...> Afternoon classes were cancelled. and you'll be cleaning up after the school festival instead...
Joy
There's a fair few actual named characters here, huh? I'm sure this won't be relevant.
> You began cleaning up with everyone.
...Aren't these pictures from the big competition?
Look, Makoto, you're in this one.
yikes
That's Mamoru. He's crazy strong. Though of course, I'll beat him one--
Dude, I think you've already taken the sweatiness competition. I've never seen you in the school uniform before. I guess jerseys are better for stuff like this, but still...
Oh, s-sorry!
Wh-Whaddaya mean?
I brought the stuff. Nail puller, tape, and... Cool, thanks man!
Wait, hang on... Did you forget the popping stuff?
Popping stuff...? Ohhh! The bubble wrap. Uh...
Well, yeah, but... you're the one who forgot it.
Huh? Are you sure? You really don't wanna go? That place is like a paradise, you know that? Some fine chicas there who'd be just your type... W-Wait, are you serious!? Be right back, guys!
For all of his faults, that Kenji doesn't fall for this obvious blatant lie is... not really a point in his favour, but hey.
U-Uhhh, sorry, Yuka-tan...
I heard that! Geez... Are you stupid or something?rip junpei
More like Stupei, I think. D-Deja vu...! *sigh* Fine... I'll go to the supply room later...
There were so many cool events I was looking forward to, like a stand-up comedy show...
Whoa, really? With who? You. Dang... Wait a sec, you gotta let me in on plans like that! Dude, it was just a joke. It was gonna be Kazushi. Who, me? Hell no. Geez, you guys are harsh... Can't any of you take a joke? Makoto, then. Bring it on. Now that's the spirit! You wanna give it a little try right here?Well, not rea--
--and just like that, we get dragged into a double act with Kenji.
Hello out there. everyone. We're the famous comedy duo, "Kenji Tomochika!" A duo of one!?And, of course, it's a manzai thing. And we're playing the straight man. Well, that makes the most sense I guess.
Man, now I can't wait for the real school festival. It's already over, idiot!
You know what they say... "Early to bed. early to rise"... ...Makes you an old geezer? There you go! A great gag like that ends on a high note. Are you related to some chairman I could mention!? Hey, speaking of jokes, here's a good one. "What the? This key isn't working." Key-p trying!
You're a Gekkoukan student through and through--I mean, come on! ...... Well... I think that went pretty good, considering we didn't rehearse. Man... What a waste...
Aaaaand right back to normal, I see.
Huh!? Ughhh... So, word got out about that. I'm relieved it never happened... But I bet lotsa guys were really disappointed... right, Kazushi? Huh? R-Really?
A pure soul...! Oh, it's something that... guys like Junpei dream about. Junpei... W-Wait a sec, what's that look for? You act like I did something!
This is Aigis' first and last line in this entire scene. And she is straight-up disappointed with Junpei. It's pretty much perfect, really.
You gotta be kidding! You too, Aigis!?
Hey, that tent on the school grounds--is it okay if we put it away in the archery club room?
Oh, yeah, that's fine. It belongs to us anyway... Hey, don't worry about it, our club will take care of it.
Oh, it's no trouble. Our class just happens to be in charge of the grounds. We'll go put it away now. Thanks! See you-- ...Ah!
Oh good, this is going to get weird and awkward isn't it.
You had a fever, right...? I heard you were laid up in bed all through break... Are you okay now?
Yeah, just look at him. He's fine. Yeah, good point. Well, I'm glad to hear it...
Shut up! Isn't it time you got back to the grounds?
Yeah, yeah, I know! I haven't seen him in a while, so give us a minute.That's a good point. We haven't spent time with Yuko in a while, huh.
......?
Um... if you happen to have any masking tape... I-I need to borrow some... if...
VERY weird and awkward...
I'm in charge of the classroom next door, but we're out of masking tape... I was nervous about asking, since I knew upperclassmen were in charge of this room... But it's a relief to see you here, Makoto-san...
Um... I saw Mitsuru-senpai a moment ago, and she said... She said Makoto-san had been sick in bed all this time... Did you... catch a cold? Oh, you shouldn't overstrain yourself. If you're not feeling well, don't feel like you have to come to Student Council.Ah, sweet, definitely won't be doing that the......
Abort, Retry, Fail?
> The room is turning ugly...
...... Huh? Wait, does that mean--
Someone's gonna get hurt if we don't fix it right now. Like, RIGHT now. Yuka-tan, c'mon and gimme a hand. I'll take it down if you hold it in place. ...Huh!? Oh, o-okay. Gotcha.
I here was something I had to tell the guyS in our club. Hey Yuko, can you go tell 'em for me? Th-The message is... For our next practice... Uh... There'll be no towels allowed. Huh? No towels? Isn't that going to make things harder?
Terrible diversion aside, I'm suddenly relieved that we can just skip practice forever...
C'mon, move it!
Another classroom might have some... Like, next door, maybe...
Oh, I-I see! I'm sorry! Well then...
I dunno, even without it we still got this scene which was... bad enough.
You probably woulda been mauled no matter who you picked to go with...> The clean-up ended peacefully...
...Eventually.
Changing Seasons / Sun
And, hey, we just had one lengthy scene with Kenji as a focal point. Let's celebrate by spending even more time with Kenji!
...Because afterwards we shouldn't need to see him ever again.
Joy
Well, Ms. Kanou must be in Kyushu by now. She's probably getting ready for her wedding ceremony...> Kenji seems to be lost in thought.
...That's all? Well, my favorite TV show got cancelled. Which sucks cuz I was really into it. It reminded me of...> Kenji is reflecting on the past.
...... Men and women are supposed to be together, dude! That's nature's law. It's, like, totally biological. C'mon, man, that's some serious knowledge I just dropped. See how much I've been studying?> Kenji is laughing to himself.
Anyways, I've been thinking... When Emiri left, I was really sad, but I'm not sure what I was sad about...
Proooooobably the latter. Considering everything during the lead-up to that ""reveal"" and all.
I've been thinking about it and thinking about it... And I just don't know... But what I DO know is... you're my friend. Is this the same subject?
Man, Kenji. You are really bad at banter. Just the worst.
> Kenji seems to be regretting what he just said.
Here, man. Take this.
This has... interesting implications that would've made for a be-- wait, no, this is modern Persona. Never mind.
I made it for you, dude. I thought it would look good on you. You don't have much fashion sense, so I wanted to help you out. I mean, that's what best friends do, right? J-Just take it, man!> Kenji told you that you are his best friend.
> You feel like you can depend on Kenji, no matter what...
The Path is Open
Joy
Same as when we maxed this link with Junpei instead. He's the same as in Portable, even. Level 52's when we can make him and that's... VERY close already. Once we hit that, we can finally do something special with this guy.
Waitress! Gimme 10 more eggs!> The hours flew by as you hung out with Kenji.
Iwatodai Dorm
no
The Lost are increasing. and I wanna get stronger...
So if you're going, please take me.Maybe if you're good.
Anyway, let's focus on the important stuff and just see what everyone else has to say. If it's new, at least.
I wish we could receive some good news for once.
Does he like to be alone...? Or is he just shy...? To be honest, I'm a little worried about him... He must be so sad being alone all the time...
Cool, huh? I never would've guessed. There's more to him than meets the eye.He IS the Tough Guy With A Sensitive Side, yeah. This is a thing that comes up a lot. The cooking thing especially.
I'm okay. C'mon, man! Liven up! You're young! You should have some fun!
Particularly these last three. Please be prepared for the worst.
Well, I don't care what you guys think about me. I'm doing things my way... ...and there's nothing you guys can do about it.Except sticking you in the party so you HAVE TO be with other people.
...And still just do whatever you want, but still.
Once we defeat them, there won't be any more news about The Lost. We're so close.Plus we'll be finished just in time for Christmas. It's perfect!
No reason, really... ......
Newscaster: Police say that the lack of a struggle most likely means his assailant was familiar with him... The victim had likely contracted Apathy Syndrome, preventing him from fighting back.
Anyway, that's it for today. We're not off to Tartarus just yet, so...
Let's round out the day by making plans for Sunday, sure. We definitely need to do this, for reasons that'll make sense very soon.
Like, today soon.
Changing Seasons / Sun
Listening: No, it's not just you... They're definitely on the rise.
Gossiping: It's all over the news, too. The whole thing makes me uncomfortable...
Listening: What if it started happening all over the world...?
Gossiping: H-Hey, don't say stuff like that...
> The first bell has rung.
Of course they're getting worse and on the rise. We're a little over a week away from the full moon. This is around about the time when they start appearing after all.
Since yesterday was fairly lengthy, today we're back to normal and just skipping right to after school stuff. Totally okay with that!
Joy
Please don't laugh at this, okay?> Fuuka is blushing.
The other day I let Yukari-chan try one of my rice balls.
So I told her that I made them to thank everyone for all they've done for me. Then, she stopped eating and asked me why I needed to thank everyone for. She seemed confused, so I told her the whole stoy.
She said I didn't need to thank her for anything, because we're friends. She said that friends don't owe each other anything more than their friendship.
I was so happy to hear that that I started to cry... That's great. My old negative thoughts started creeping in again...
Boy, it sure would've been WAY more interesting if Fuuka's link focussed on that social anxiety and wasn't just mostly "Girl Not How Cook?! That Unpossible!"
I was thinking badly of myself... But, when I realized what I was doing... I saw myself for who I truly am... And I began to understand what I really wanted to do... At first I wanted to thank everyone, then I realized what I actually wanted to do was help them...
Um... There's something I have to tell you...
...didn't we do this already?
......> Fuuka seems to be having trouble breathing.
No, yeah, we definitely did this already. This was the enire second half of the previous scene in this link. What the heck?
And I want you to be by my side... Makoto-kun, I... ......
U-Um... Makoto-kun... ......> Fuuka has expressed her feelings for you.
> Your relationship with her has become more intimate....
You feel the same...?
Well, this is an awkward set of options. One of these is fairly noncommittal and the other sure reads as being emotionally manipulative. Noncommittal nodding it is.
...... ...Sorry, I don't know what to say...> Fuuka is blushing.
> You talked with Fuuka for a long time.
> After you finished your conversation, you decided to go back to the dorm.
Iwatodai Dorm
And since Chidori's getting better, I think I should start training again. Besides, those Apathy freaks are popping up everywhere.We'll get to it when we get to it, I guess.
Newscaster: The customer insisted that he had Apathy Syndrome, preventing him from returning the videos on time... But the owner refused to give in, saying their policy did not allow for any excuses. Despite the customer's frustration, the dispute was resolved to both men's satisfaction when...
Actually, fuck it. We don't have anything better to do tonight, or most nights for that matter. No one in the dorm's doing anything, Koromaru doesn't want to go for a proper walk...
The Voice Someone Calls
Let's go take apart this IKEA flat pack. We'll be getting assistance from our original team this time. Should be easy enough, since we can do a bit of everything.
Yukari has the Wizard's Mark from before, for obvious reasons. Junpei got the Bererker's Seal for the off-chance that something gets a chance to attack.
tartarus_0d04
Somethings never change, huh? Fuuka's wrong about this as per usual. There's no new enemies that start spawning on this floor.
Sure, this thing here is new but we'll get to that later don't worry.
Just before we hit actual new content, Akihiko levels up which is only noteworthy because...
He's learned his last skill now. Mazionga as a capstone is really worryingly bad, honestly. I don't imagine he'll be getting much use after this now.
...Why does he even still have Sonic Punch? It's straight up worthless.
But yeah, uh, anyway. Floor 126 is when we get new Shadows to deal with.
Mass Destruction / Wiping All Out
Writhing Tiara sure is a Tiar-- actually no, that's being too generous. Tiaras are at least semi-competent at something. Sort of. Almost. This is just plain BAD. Why does it have Dia?! It has so little HP it never gets a turn. Nulling Fire isn't even an inconvenience since Junpei wouldn't be casting anyway.
Death Twins are almost threatening, but suffer from the same issue of having too little HP. And being Weak to Strike is an odd one; Phys weaknesses aren't exactly common. Repelling Expel could be nasty, though. That they're dressed like Vatican Clergy gives you a subtle visual clue that I genuinely think is a clever hint at least.
Hey, the Magic Mage is back and he's... basically the same as the miniboss incarnation but way more boring. Now he just gets one-shot by anything. He's sort of the inverse Writhing Tiara resistance wise, and everything else too for that matter. Still doesn't get turns though.
Elegant Mothers are all about the multi-targets, I see. Unfortunately they're weak to being electrocuted and also murdered. Mot is very easy to have at this point and he has Mudoon, Mamudoon and Mudo Boost. Which increases the success rate of all Dark elemental instant death skills.
Remember that one, it might be important at some point.
Oh and the Mothers have these mirrors that we need to pry outta their cold dead hands. Elizabeths wants five of the things, so this could be slow.
Brave Wheels are lions that are on fire. They're just resilient enough to not get one-shot by Parvati's stuff which is fine with me since that means I can get AoA's instead.
And lastly we have the... Arcane Turret. Huh, that was the quickest turnover from boss to random this side of Digital Devil Saga. That said, Arcane Turret can appear on any floor of Tziah. It can appear before the boss, the floor after the boss (as happened here) and anywhere after that too.
It's not really as blatantly threatening as its boss counterpart was, since it only has Vile Assault and all. Its absurd HP means that it might actually get a turn. If only Akihiko wasn't here to let you get 2 AoAs before it can move.
tartarus_0d04
On floor 130, Fuuka manages to figure out where the Sleeping Table is. Since Tartarus is pretty simple, there's not much to expect between here and there really.
Do find a decent piece of armor for free, though. Gonna be giving this one to Yukari, since she desperately needs the upgrade for reasons.
Plus, hey, +20 SP is always a good thing for a spellcaster.
...Huh, just finding one of these with its back already turned like this is totally fine with me.
That all the hands are level 1 with 100HP is pretty much meaningless but hey. It does mean we can do silly big numbers without trying every once in a while.
And at some point, we find this thing for Junpei. It's not as good as what he already has, though. That one we found for Elizabeth is stronger and has a more useful added effect right now.
And that's about it, really. We've made it to the Sleeping Table's dining hall, but I sure am not ready for it just yet. Got something to do first.
The Poem For Everyone's Soul
I'm surprised you were able to obtain it from the Opulent Hand. The reward I've selected for you is rather unique. It's too small for a human to use, but it's just right for man's best friend... I'm sure your canine companion will find it both mouth-watering and effective. Please accept your reward.
Bones really aren't unique at all, Liz! Even made into a weapon, they're still pretty dang common in a way. Anyway, yeah, it's Koromaru's joke weapon. Pretty much the same as you'd expect as a result and straight up useless now. Shame, that.
But, I'm surprised that Shadows would be so vain... Please accept your reward.
I'm sure not gonna complain about a pretty dang easy Soma, honestly!
Anyway, the next Gold Shadow request is the first one where you might understandably just nope out on it. Having to get 2 Medals makes it significantly more of a pain in the ass than the previous ones.
Anyway, hey, we're level 48 which is a smidge higher than you probably should be here but I'm going to take advantage of that idea. Folks wanted the table to get destroyed so sure. I'll give you what you want.
Level 48 is an Important Level, because it lets you get two demons that matter and also Ubelluris and lol Ubelluris. Titania is the better of the two good ones, in my opinion. Her and Dionysus are important because they both start with Mind Charge (2.5x boost to next magic attack) no questions asked. Nothing at a lower level has Mind Charge. Nothing at a lower level learns Mind Charge. Portable adds Setanta to give you an early Power Charge for some unfathomable reason. It does not give you anything before level 48 that has Mind Charge.
...Wind Amp is here because I got lucky with a skill change. I was gonna just make a Black Frost that had Bufudyne, Ice Boost and Mind Charge and use that. Then a change happened and suddenly Wind Amp. What followed was about 3 hours of rerolling Titania's skills to get this combination. I could've just left, bought an accessory and come back at a later date to not do that but nah.
Anyway, let's set the table.
Magician Sleeping Table (Portable)these fights are... quite different from each other not because theres anything only doable in one over the other but hey best to watch both if you can
Master of Tartarus / Danger Zone
Oh, Fuuka. You have no idea, do you?
So, the Sleeping Table is a bit of a notorious bastard for sure. He's not particularly varied or anything. In fact, on paper he's dirt simple. He has two tricks but one of them is just that he hits everyone very, very, very hard.
Megidola is the weaker of his two attacks. And it still deals more than Yukari's max HP without (de)buffs. Yikes. Even with random varience taken into account, the lowest it does is about 290. Which is exactly Yukari's max HP. Rude!
Maragidyne is in fact more powerful than Megidola. Mercifully, he doesn't have Fire Boost otherwise he'd be an even bigger bastard.
It comfortable one-shots Yukari, with it being sub-300 if she's lucky. It can even err close to one-shotting Akihiko sometimes.
Needless to say, better hope Junpei has Marakukaja otherwise you'll be needing to handle the buffing yourself. Aigis doesn't get Marakukaja until level 56, so she's not an option.
The other thing the table does is just picks someone and kills them. This is a subtle distinction from killing everyone, yes. Hamaon itself is probably the closest thing we have to a breather round. Just think about that for a second.
Evil Touch is less dangerous in isolation, because it's also single target and it inflicts Fear. Base 25% chance, sure, but the table has 32 Luck. And Fear Boost.
So it is pretty likely that it sticks. And if it hits Yukari, you better have Patra (Gems) otherwise she is dead.
If it hits anyone else, better hope her AI is on-point and cures it and doesn't decide to Diarama someone.
no this didnt happen to me this time thankfully
The Table DOES have a nasty follow-up to this that I mentioned before. He never got a chance to use it, though, so we'll see it later. It's a bit of a doozy you see.
Anyway, the table has 1700 HP and is in fact quite tanky. It doesn't have particularly high Endurance but it resists all the Phys elements (nulling Strike) and even if you cast Fire Break... it still takes massively reduced damage. Because fuck you.
Mind Charge + Boost + Amp + Tarukaja + Rakunda doesn't give many fucks, though. You can do this with Ice, Wind or Elec though Bufudyne does require either extra grinding or lucky skill changes. Garudyne is available easily at this point and Ziodyne's been available since like Mothman. Getting the Amps usually involves sacrificing Makoto's accessory slot but there's not much better to do with it at this stage so let rain the pain!
For what it's worth, Mind Charge is the only thing here you wouldn't normally have easy access to at this point. And without that, you still deal over 400 damage per Bufu/Garu/Ziodyne so...
...The EXP is nice for the table, but good Lord is the Megido Gem super underwhelming. Probably the only attack gem I actually use for reasons other than conserving SP but still.
End tartarus_0d04
I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of people disliked the Sleeping Table fight, to be honest. It is a bit of a sudden spike compared to every other Tartarus boss and it just blasts you and suddenly oh fuck everyone is down/dying/dead.
I think it's pretty fun, though. Keeps me awake, when Tartarus on the whole can be a little light and dull at times. Not my favourite though.
No, we haven't gotten to that one yet.
Anyway, after the table we just have the usual rigamarole of a few small floors and then the barrier's here.
Gonna remember to pick up the document while we're here. They're pretty useful and insightful and all.
Speaking of which, let's give it a quick read before letting Elizabeth see it.
The Poem For Everyone's Soul
You've met the deadline, as well. Little by little, you're uncovering hidden truths that most humans will never be aware of... What does the world look like from your eyes? I'm sure you see it differently than before. That's the power of knowledge. Please accept your reward.
5 beads is a pretty okay reward. Nice to have some guaranteed full heals on hand at all times, at least.
Nothing else left for us to do in Tartarus now, though. The only thing we have available at all that's technically doable is that danged Thunder Call combo skill but that's still a few levels away from being possible so...
Let's just go to bed, and see what the days ahead have in store for us next.